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Geography - population and the environment > soils > Flashcards

soils Flashcards

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1
Q

what are zonal soils?

A

a soil which has experienced the max effect of the climate and natural vegetation

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2
Q

what are the 5 essential soil functions?

A 
physical stability and soils
hydrologic buffer 
food biodiversity and habitat 
nutrient cycling 
filtering and buffering
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3
Q

what is nutrient cycling?

A

carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and many nutrients are stored, transformed and cycled in the soil

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4
Q

what is food, biodiversity and habitat?

A

the diversity and productivity of living things depends on soil

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5
Q

what is the hydrologic buffer?

A

soil helps control where rain, snowmelt and irrigation water goes.

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6
Q

what is filtering and buffering?

A

the minerals and microbes in the soil are responsible for filtering, buffering and detoxifying organic and inorganic materials

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7
Q

what is physical stability and support?

A

soil structure provides a medium for plant roots

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8
Q

what are different layers of the soil?

A 
O -humus
A- topsoil
B- subsoil
C- rock being weathered 
D- bedrock
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9
Q

what are the 2 types of soil profile?

A

tropical red latosol

podsol

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10
Q

what is the humus layer?

A

it is a thin layer of rooting vegetation - such as grass and leaves

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11
Q

what is the topsoil?

A

this layer is rich in humus and minerals from the rock

so it is good for growing crops

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12
Q

what is the subsoil?

A

it has little humus but is rich in minerals

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13
Q

what is rock that is being weathered?

A

it has been broken into chunks already

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14
Q

what is the bedrock?

A

solid rock, mot yet weathered but it will be one day

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15
Q

what is rill erosion?

A

when rainfall does not soak into the surface it can gather on the surface and runs down hill forming channels called rills

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16
Q

what is sheet erosion?

A

as raindrops loosen soil the overland flow can transport topsoil

17
Q

what is saltation?

A

main process of soil transportation

18
Q

what is creep?

A

occurs when particles greater than 0.5mm are too heavy to be lifted by wind

19
Q

what is wind erosion?

A

occurs when forces exerted by wind overcome the gravitational and cohesive forces of soil particles

20
Q

what is gully erosion?

A

if rills are unattended to they grow into larger gullies

21
Q

what is river bank erosion?

A

soil is washed away by unmanaged rivers as they meander across floodplains

22
Q

repeated erosion reduces the fertility of the soil by…

A
  • removal of topsoil
  • reduction in depth of soil
  • reducing infiltration
23
Q

this in turn can lead to…

A

loss of seeds, fertilisers and pesticides
young plants being sand blasted
increased difficulty of field operations

24
Q

damage to the environment includes…

A
  • deposition of sediment onto roads land and into dams
  • manage to quality of water courses
  • increased run-off and sedimentation causing greater risk to flooding
25
Q

what are the causes of soil erosion?

A

deforestation

26
Q

what are the solutions to soil erosion?

A

plant fast growing trees

place terraces and small dams to hold soils

27
Q

the key to reducing soil erosion by rainwater is to reduce the amount of surface flow water by…

A

installing field drains
reducing the amount of water running onto fields
use of manure to stabalise topsoil
protecting the soil in winter

28
Q

what is salinisation?

A

a build up of salts in the soil

29
Q

what are the problems with salinisation?

A

excessive water application - rainwater contains salts

30
Q

how much farmland is affected by salinisation?

A

estimated 10-20%

31
Q

what are the 4 soil structures?

A

granular and crumb structures
blocky structures
prismatic and columnar structures
platy structures

32
Q

granular and crumb structures?

A

individual particles of sand, silt and clay grouped together in small nearly spherical grains

33
Q

blocky structures

A

soil particles that cling together in nearly square or angular blocks

34
Q

prismatic and columnar structures

A

soil particles which have formed into vertical columns or pillars separated by verticle cracks

35
Q

platy structures

A

made up of soil particles aggregated in thin plates or sheets piled horizontally on one another

Geography - population and the environment (22 decks)

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